LEONHIRTH: Putin also provides foil for US ideologues

Vladimir Putin's forays into Ukraine and specifically into Crimea have brought numerous predictions of a new Cold War between the United States and Russia, and apparently that prospect in encouraging to some ideological diehards.

In their "good ole days," the United States and the Soviet Union threatened each other with "mutual assured destruction," and the nation's military-industrial complex prospered.

Since the collapse of the Soviet Union, Russia has flirted with democracy, but Putin, both as president and prime minister, has become a virtual strongman in control of his nation's future.

Although communism remains a force in Russia, Putin seems a lot less ideological and a lot more nationalistic.

According to some analysts, the West's courtship of and alliances with Eastern European nations have convinced Putin that Russia faces more threats to its national stature from the encroachment of the European Union and NATO.

Divisions in the Ukraine provide the model for that anxiety with generally those in the western part of the nation wanting to align with the European Union and those in the eastern part of the national wanting to align with Russia.

How all this plays out will depend on the effectiveness of economic sanctions against Russia and whether Putin decides to launch a full military assault on Ukraine.

In the meantime, ideologues can have some joy that a familiar enemy is back, even though the new Russia is not the same superpower than the old Soviet Union was

Some ideologues have been desperately seeking a replacement for the Soviet Union.

Among the top candidates have been the Muslim world in general and Iran in particular.

Other candidates have included undocumented aliens and even members of the gay community.

Apparently some or all of them are plotting the overthrow of the United States by any means possible.

Although the largest "communist" nation, China, now appears to have a lot more capitalists than Wall Street, for some, the root cause of most U.S. problems continue to the tenets of communism.

Despite its alliterative beauty, "Common Core" as "communism" is as ridiculous as some of the "Saturday Night Live" skits in which entertainer Victoria Jackson, a proponent of this analogy, performed. The ridiculous of those skits were at least amusing.

While the Cold War helped to bring about directly and indirectly the interstate highway system, a federal student-loan program and the Internet, a more pragmatic approach to geopolitics would be useful in dealing with the actual threats that an expansionist Russia might pose.

Those who advocate smaller government, less government spending and lower taxation would not find much relief in an environment with the constant international threats of a new Cold War.

Nostalgia can be nice, but it is not always cheap.

Another approach, fighting wars not in the budget, was good for the prosperity of the military-industrial complex, but not the national economy.

Putin provides a threat to peace in Europe but also a foil for this nation's ideologues to exploit for their own purposes.

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LEONHIRTH: Putin also provides foil for US ideologues

Vladimir Putin's forays into Ukraine and specifically into Crimea have brought numerous predictions of a new Cold War between the United States and Russia, and apparently that prospect in encouraging